


I Make A Better Second Impression

by TheSpasticFantastic



Series: A Tale of Two Cities [12]
Category: Frozen (Disney Movies)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-30
Updated: 2020-12-30
Packaged: 2021-03-11 03:22:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,394
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28428495
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheSpasticFantastic/pseuds/TheSpasticFantastic
Summary: Dag has inherited his family’s legendary skills with wooing the ladies.
Series: A Tale of Two Cities [12]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1815652
Comments: 1
Kudos: 3





	I Make A Better Second Impression

**Author's Note:**

> This is all for @couragedontdesertme as a shameless bribe/fic swap for City of Ice. She also created Eira. Thank you to @patricia-von-arundel for creating Alarik, Dag, and Jenny. Thank you @fericita-s for beta-reading the second hand embarrassment. And thank you for reading.

Dag wandered down the brick path, hands in his pockets, only half paying attention to the overly enthusiastic student guide. It wasn’t as though he didn’t know everything about the University anyway. His grandfather was a tenured professor in the History Department. His grandmother worked in one of the research labs at the University Hospital and he had been born a stone’s throw from the quad when his mother had gone into labor early. There were pictures of him before he could walk posed on the various sculptures adorning campus and propped against the brickwork of the Victorian-era buildings. Grandpa even bought him a t-shirt every year with the University logo just so he could watch Dag’s father turn bright red and his eye twitch every Christmas when he opened the box. They both said it was a friendly rivalry even though Mom and Grandma sighed heavily. Every year.

But Grandpa was holding office hours with his pre-doctoral students and grandma wasn’t going to be able to take him to lunch for another hour, so here he was. In the herd with the other high school hopefuls doing their campus tours. Grandpa had said that the University did check to see which applicants had visited and which had not and that it would be a good show of faith that Dag was interested in attending. He sighed. Jenny hadn’t started her college tours until her senior year of high school. And she certainly hadn’t applied where Dad or Grandpa taught. No, Jenny was up in Connecticut, ‘living her best life’ as she liked to say.

He tried to maintain a look of polite interest as the student guide gestured to the architectural landmark of a library and made eye contact with him. Dag tried to look discreetly at his watch as they began to walk to the next stop on the tour and accidentally trod on someone’s foot.

“Ouch!”

“Oh, sorry, I-“ He lost his train of thought. She was beautiful with long blonde hair and dazzling brown eyes. “I, uh, I was looking at my watch.”

“It’s ok. No harm done.” She grinned. She dropped her voice and whispered conspiratorially, “This tour is taking a little long, right?”

“Yeah.” He smiled and rubbed the back of his neck. “I mean, how could you not wanna come to Penn, right?” He paused uncertainly. “I mean, unless – unless you don’t. There are plenty of great schools all over.”

She laughed. “I do want to come here. It’s my top pick. My Dad came here for medical school before he moved to Arizona.” She nodded over at a middle-aged man in khaki shorts and a polo shirt who was excitedly filming the tour with his phone. “That’s where I’m from. Dad says it’ll make it a little easier to get in. You know, geographic diversity and all that jazz.”

“Yeah, I’m kind of screwed there.” He shrugged. “I’m Dag, by the way.”

“Eira.” She stuck out her hand and he shook it.

“Nice to meet you, Eira.” He cast about for something to talk about. “Uh, do you know what you want to study?”

“I was thinking of doing the pre-med track.”

“Oh, that’s what my Grandad says students do when they don’t really know what they want to do,” he responded. “That or business school.”

“Oh,” she gave him a tight smile. “Well, you know, my dad is a doctor so I kind of think I know what I want to do.” He felt his stomach drop.

“What – no, I’m sorry. My granddad teaches here. He’s a history professor so he kind of just has an opinion about a lot of science things.” He gave her a weak smile. “I mean, mostly I think he just says it to piss off my dad. My dad teaches biology up at Columbia.”

“Mm,” she said mildly, raising an eyebrow. “So your granddad teaches at Penn and your dad teaches at Columbia? You must really be sweating the application process. Two Ivies in one family? Is Harvard your safety school?”

Dag winced. “No.”

“Princeton then?”

“No!” He felt the color rise in his cheeks. “I didn’t mean it like that. I’m sorry. Pre-med is great! Especially if you know you want to be a doctor. My dad teaches biology, I think he just kind of has a chip on his shoulder about pre-med students because he says they grade grub a lot.”

“They do grade grub! Or at least I did.” Dag nearly jumped as Eira’s father came up behind him with a wide smile. “I’m Dr. Handrigsen. Nice to meet you.” He stuck out his hand. Dag quickly shook it, hoping he had a firm enough grip.

“Dag Geatland-Runardsund.”

“Oh? Name like that and our ancestors might’ve gotten off the same boat!”

“Dad!” Eira blushed.

“Uh, my dad was actually born in Sweden. He came to the States for grad school.”

“Dag’s dad teaches at Columbia,” Eira said.

“Oh? We were just there two days ago. Did you tell him, Eira?”

“No, dad.” She glared at her father. “Because I don’t know if I’m applying there.”

“Of course you’re applying there! It’s not Penn, but it’s still a good school. Does your dad think they have a good pre-med program, Dag?”

“Um, yes Mister – Doctor Handrigsen. The biology program, at least. He wants me to go there. For biology, I mean. I want to study biology. Marine biology, really, but it’s important to go to a school with a strong undergraduate program for general biology first.” _Shut up Shut up Shut up_ , he thought.

“Just checking out other schools?”

“His granddad teaches history here.”

“Medical history,” Dag said quickly. “And sometimes bioethics. And my grandma works in a lab at the University Hospital. So, you know, it’d be stupid not to apply here.”

“Medical history?” Eira’s father frowned. “You said your name was Runardsund? Is your grandfather Agnarr Runardsund? Author of Surgical Saga: Viking Medicine from the 12th to 14th Century?” Dag blinked and gaped. That wasn’t grandpa’s best seller.

“Uh . . .yeah, that’s him.”

“I love his work!”

“Dad!”

“What? I do!”

“We’re having lunch right after the tour!” Dag blurted. “At my grandparents’ favorite café. If you want to come. It’s only, like, a five-block walk. And the food is amazing! I’m sure he’d love to meet you. The both of you, I mean.”

“I’m sure we couldn’t possibly impose-“ Eira began to speak but her father clapped her on the shoulder.

“We’ve got another four hours before we have to go to the airport. We’d love to join you, Dag! If I got a copy of his book from the bookstore do you think he’d sign it for me?”

Which is how Dag found himself sitting in the White Dog Café next to his grandmother, who was blessedly as charming as she ever was, and across the table from Eira who was laughing at a story she was telling. Something about when his mother went shopping for her wedding dress, he wasn’t paying attention and besides, he had probably heard it before. He was paying attention to the animate way Eira spoke, how her hands moved, how her smile lit up her entire face.

“Hello!” Dag looked up at his grandfather’s greeting as approached in his fussy professor outfit and briefcase. “My wife said we had company today.”

“My dad is a big fan of your work,” Eira said with a smile. “He’s getting a copy at the bookstore right now.”

“Oh? Does he know how to get here?”

“Her dad went to Penn, grandpa,” Dag explained.

“Did he? Good man, go Quakers!” His grandfather smiled, kissed his grandmother on the cheek and took a seat at the head of the table. “And now you’re thinking of coming here?”

“Yes, I’m looking at the pre-med track.”

“Pre-med? That’s what students do when they don’t really know what they want to do. That or business school.”

“Agnarr!” Dag felt the heat rush to his face as his grandmother smacked his grandfather on the arm. Eira turned her face to him with a wry smile.

“I can see who you get your charm from, Dag.” She chuckled.

Perhaps, Dag thought, the universe would be merciful and she would be as forgiving as she was beautiful. Or at least let the ground open up and swallow him whole.


End file.
